Red Tails. Poem by guy lipmore

Sixty seven years since the war,
Never heard of them or the story before.
A well kept secret of history,
The airmen of Tuskegee.
They were the 'Red Tails' fighter squadron,
An author stated, "As secret as the Atom Bomb."

The U.S set up an all 'Negro' squadron in secret,
Total segregation, the 'experiment' had to be separate.
Scepticism was rife, it was expected to fail,
Racism was blowing in full sail.
"They are not capable to fly, let alone fight,
Morally and mentally inferior, they have no bite."

Training was complete, preparation done,
Reality to meet, prove the doubters wrong.
Despatched to the front in Europe, Italy,
To their all 'Afro-American' base at Romatelli.
Pilots, cooks, mechanics, commanders on the base,
All had a 'non-white' face.
Orders and briefings, tactics and formations,
Courage and bravery on the missions.
Equally brave as the others, like their 'white brothers.'
Escorting the bombers over enemy territory.
Fulfilling their duty against tyranny.
They had earned a reputation,
Bomber crews requested their protection.
One of their kind shot down, out he had bailed,
All his fellow pilots, to see they had failed.
They all thought 'presumed dead', gone,
One of many lost fighting for freedom.
However he didn't perish, never died,
His Mustang 51, upside down, he 'fell' out and survived!

Captured and imprisoned for remainder of the war,
Liberated and on a ship, home he headed for.
Sailing past the statue of liberty,
A welcome and proud sight to see.
Crowds and flag waving on the dock side,
Cheering and shouts filled him with pride.
From the ship he was about to disembark,
Then reality hit him like a stab in the heart.
There were to be no gratitude or thanks,
As he approached the gang planks.
Pride and patriotism was suddenly not there,
Kicked in the teeth, hard to bare.
The sign stated, 'Whites to the left, Blacks to the right.'

He had returned back home to the 'old fight',
Back to the racism, where life was prejudiced,
To 'land of the free' where for a period he had missed.
332, fighter group squadron proved their metal,
112, of the the Nazi foes fate they did 'settle'!
The war had finished, their missions had ended.
All bar 27, bombers they had defended.
Fighting for freedom,66, were lost of their own,
Survivors still had to fight for freedom when they got home!

18/10/12